Worth

The wheels of justice can spin slowly, and so does Worth, which finds some provocative true-life subject matter bogging down in backroom negotiations and legal mumbo-jumbo.

Exploring the creation of the United States government’s victim compensation fund during the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, this uneven drama makes the risky decision to focus less on mourning families and more on an affluent lawyer with deep political connections.

It almost succeeds, thanks partly to a captivating performance by Michael Keaton that garners sympathy for an unlikely underdog crusader for justice.

At its core, the film asks a provocative question: What is life worth? Legally, it’s a monetary figure, but is that all?

Keaton adopts a gravelly New England accent as Ken, a mediator given the thankless task of answering that question. He and his assistant (Amy Ryan) are tasked with dividing the compensation funds approved by Congress.

Aside from essentially weighing the value of one victim versus another, Ken must secure participation from a certain percentage of families in the fund by a predetermined deadline to avoid a massive class-action lawsuit against the government that could cause economic chaos.

That goal is compromised by pesky community activist Charles (Stanley Tucci), a widower who is skeptical — although not entirely antagonistic — toward Ken’s intentions and methods. And he has many potential beneficiaries in his corner.

Unfortunately, Ken is beholden to the cold and heartless nature of a bureaucratic process that vastly underestimates the emotional component of grief in the face of tragedy. How does a formula or algorithm account for that while equitably splitting the pot?

For a while, Worth finds an effective emotional hook within a standard procedural framework while mostly sidestepping partisan politics and cheap sentiment. As we listen to harrowing and gut-wrenching accounts of potential beneficiaries who lost loved ones, it’s difficult not to put yourself in their shoes.

However, the dialogue-heavy screenplay by Max Borenstein (Godzilla vs. Kong) struggles to conjure much blood-boiling passion from the ethical complexities and drawn-out proceedings of victim compensation law. Instead, he and director Sara Colangelo (The Kindergarten Teacher) rely on melodramatic embellishments.

Like its protagonist, the film strives to maintain an even-handed perspective, yet stumbles while trying to strike a balance between administrative number-crunching and deeper emotional trauma. Then again, as with Ken, perhaps it’s a no-win situation.

Rated PG-13, 118 minutes.